Pokemon: Recovery
by One-Trick Man
Summary: When Ash's Pikachu is severely hurt, and Ash has to get a new best friend, how will he cope? And with a serious challenge ahead, what could possibly stir up between Ash and his new crush? Reviews aren't necessary but are appreciated. Rated M for lemons in later chapters, swearing and violence. Enjoy!
1. New Class

[Cue Tune 'Gotta Catch 'Em All' Remix from Pokémon XY: Diancee and the Cocoon of Destruction]

Ash ran down the stairs from his bedroom, enjoying his favourite song of all time, and singing along with slightly different lyrics... His mother, in the Kitchen nearby, overheard him and smiled.

"I wanna be, the only one, with a Pikachu, who fights Legendary and sits on my shoulder, Pokémon! Gotta Catch 'Em All! Pokémon! Our courage will pull us through, the greatest time of all history! Ash and Pikachu!" he sang happily. At the sound of his name, Pikachu ran up to Ash and leapt onto his shoulder, screaming in joy.

"Pika Pi!" he yelled. Why the two best friends were so happy? It was their first day back at high school, of course! Not only that, but to celebrate a certain recent event in which Ash was involved, he was offered the opportunity to be fully in charge of a Battle Day at the school! He chose that battle day would be today, and the best part was, he finally had an excuse to take Pikachu to school without sneaking him in! Delia, Ash's mother, simply continued grinning as Ash continued singing, and set down his breakfast on a table. Pikachu jumped off his shoulder and tucked into a very nice breakfast with Ash. Being so excited, the two completely demolished their breakfast in less than 30 seconds!

"Thanks mum, see ya later!" Ash shouted, wiping crumbs off his mouth with a napkin. Just as he was about to race out of the door, Pikachu following close behind, his mother called to him, and picked up a medium-sized, red, blue and white hat, holding it out to Ash. He clapped his hand against his forehead jokingly, realising that he had already forgotten his favourite article of clothing. He then took the cap and blasted off out of the door at top speed. Half way to the school Ash turned to Pikachu.

"Pikachu, use Quick Attack to get faster, I want to push myself to be more athletic, so I'll try and catch up. Be sure not to crash into anyone!" he commanded. Pikachu, excited to show off his newly-improved moveset, zoomed off down the street, a trail of white light chasing him. Ash also chased Pikachu, determined to catch up. Unfortunately, just as the two were about to reach the school head to head, Ash came to a sudden stop.

"PIKACHU! WATCH OUT!" he cried, but it was too late. Pikachu tried to stop running but was too fast, and crashed head first into a Luxray. The Luxray cried out in pain and jumped into the air in order to avoid further contact. Pikachu bounced off of Luxray after crashing and unfortunately flew straight into Ash's stomach, causing them both to fall over. The Luxray growled and its trainer turned around.

"Well, well, well, if it isn't the one and only Ash," chuckled a familiar voice. Ash took his headphones out of his ears.

"Hey Trip... how's it going?" Ash groaned, rolling his eyes at the sound of his rival's voice, "Sorry about your Luxray."

In response to this Luxray simply growled, and Trip laughed uncontrollably.

"It's fine, your Pikachu sure has got fast, huh? Well, I hope you're prepared for your little battle day, because my friends and I are going to make sure you regret making it today," Trip said, a little too threateningly.

Pikachu, intimidated, responded, "PIKA! PIKACHU!" Electrical sparks flew out of his cheeks.

"Relax Pikachu, I was just kidding!" Trip smirked, holding up his hands innocently. Pikachu calmed down and sighed. Trip then helped Ash up to prove it.

"I look forward to our battle," Trip smiled, patting Ash on the shoulder teasingly before walking away.

"Pika Pi, Pikachu Pi!" Pikachu growled, looking at Ash.

"I know Pikachu, we'll just have to show Trip and his 'friends' just how strong we are! And if that doesn't work," Ash took out another Pokéball and continued, "We use our special bonus."

* * *

Ash made his way to his form class as the bell went. On the way, he checked his timetable to confirm that he was in the right block. Eventually, he found himself outside his new form class. Due to sever bullying, he was told at the end of his last semester that he was going to be moved to another class. He took a deep breath in and then sighed, opening the door and facing his new class.

" _So far, so good. Nobody's made fun of my birthmarks, yet._ " he thought, grinning. As he walked in however, a certain blonde girl sitting shyly in the corner caught his eye. Staring unknowingly, he stopped walking.

"Ah! There you are, Ash, isn't it? Come here son!" the Teacher said kindly, noticing Ash in the class. Snapping him out of his trance, he gestured for Ash to walk over to him. Ash did so and was introduced to his class.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet Ash, from Pallet Town in Kanto. He's staying here in Kalos because his mum moved here with her friend," the teacher smiled. A Chorus of 'Ooooh's were seen as a response to that. The teacher just rolled his eyes and led Ash to his seat. Much to his happy surprise, it was right next to the blonde girl.

" _Holy shit! She is fit!...Wait what am I saying? I don't even know this girl! Maybe I should introduce myself..._ " Ash thought, walking over to his seat. As he sat down next to the girl, he took the quick opportunity as he sat to take a closer look at her. Her luxurious, golden hair flowing down her shoulders, her shining blue eyes, those lips, they along with everything else were so perfect, he felt like he could kiss them for days on end.

"Hi there, I'm Ash Ketchum! What's your name?" he smiled, holding out a hand for her to shake?

"Huh?! It's you!" she gasped quietly. Ash looked at her awkwardly.

"Ash... you don't remember me?" She whispered shyly, blushing slightly. Her eyes widened while Ash tilted his head in confusion. She sighed exasperatedly and revealed a blue and white cloth from her pocket.

"Well, do you remember this?" she asked, handing him the cloth. As Ash held it, memories were cascaded into his mind, flowing to and fro from the front of his mind to the back. He frantically searched for the correct one.

"We met back in Kanto, at Professor Oak's Camp, I hurt my knee after being startled by a Poliwag, you found me and comforted me," she explained as Ash thought deeply. Suddenly, something clicked in his mind, and one last memory flooded in, it was himself as a child, searching for a Poliwag. He then came across a crying girl in a straw hat, she appeared to have hurt her knee, so he gave her a cloth to be used as a bandage, then convinced her to not give up. The last thing he remembered about that day was himself and this girl holding hands, walking into the horizon, together. As his flashback ended, he turned to the girl and gaped, realising that he had finally met that very same girl again.

"Oh..." he muttered. The next thing he knew, the girl's arms were wrapped tightly around his neck and she was hugging him, crying with joy on the inside.

"I'm so happy I found you again, Ash! My name's Serena, you do remember me don't you?" asked the girl. Ash nodded enthusiastically and she accidently squealed a bit too loud, causing everyone to turn and notice her hugging him. While it wasn't really more than a hug, surely everyone else must have considered it to be a little more... intimate...

Eventually, Serena removed her arms from their grip around his neck and blushed heavily, turning her face away from Ash, who was still trying to process what just happened.

* * *

Then it all happened in a flash, within the next few minutes he had made his way, along with Serena, to his next class. The whole time he constantly wondered, how could he not recognise her?! She's even more beautiful than she was that day! And yes, she was very pretty during that sunset miracle. Could he really be in love already? He ended up mentally hitting himself about it and tried to take his mind off it when he remembered Pikachu.

" _...Oh, shit..._ " he thought. Suddenly his eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he remembered Pikachu, who was sleeping soundly on his shoulder. No wonder he didn't make a sound all day so far! Ash started to feel bad when he realised that he hadn't even bothered to introduce his best friend to his new classmates... they must have been so confused as to why this very peculiar Pokémon was asleep on his shoulder rather than comfortable in its Pokéball.

Pikachu only woke up when he sensed other Pokémon surrounding him. Of course! It was Battle Day! Serena was the new kid, of course, so Ash followed his personal rule of helping out any new kids by explaining things like Battle Day to her, however when he did turn around, he could already see that she was fully aware of what Battle Day was and was currently making her way excitedly over to the Professor to introduce herself. The Professor simply smiled, nodded and showed her to her seat. Much to Ash's dismay, it was relatively far away from him, so communication was out of the question. At last, the lesson began, everyone stopped chatting and faced the grinning Professor, who was clearly eager to see what epic battles awaited.

"Good Morning Students! Before I begin the lesson, I'd like to remind you all that today is the official Battle Day, which occurs once every 3 months. Today, for those of you who don't know, will be battling against between one and two other students, and the winner of each match will move on to the School Tournament, occurring straight after school tomorrow. I'm sure you're all very 'psyched' as you call it, but before the tournament, anyone who knows how to battle must participate, so, for those of you with Pokémon, follow me, please! And those of you without Pokémon, well you can watch and learn... then you'll get your chance next time," the Professor explained. He then casually made his way out of the school and into the battlefield behind it. All of the students happily followed, taking out their Pokéballs to prepare for battle.

"Now, I'm going to use this shuffle app on my phone, to select two people at a time to battle, please be ready and patient. So..." the Professor added when they arrived. He pressed the screen on his phone and a name appeared on-screen.

"Serena Yvonne!" he called out. Serena walked over to the battlefield nervously and held out her Pokéball, ready to release its contents; the Professor waited and then pressed the button again.

"Versus Barry!" he added. Barry, Ash's old rival from Sinnoh, strolled confidently over to the other side of the battlefield.

"Hmph! Empoleon! Let's get going!" he shouted, before releasing Empoleon, a water-type Pokémon, in the evolved form of Prinplup and Piplup. Serena thought carefully about her choice of Pokémon, but declared that she would stick with her current Pokémon.

"Fennekin! Take the stage!" she cried out, before releasing her first ever Pokémon.

"Huh? You're using a fire type against a water type? Have you no clue about type advantages?!" Barry shrieked. Fennekin appeared on the battlefield and snarled mercilessly at Empoleon. Empoleon simply shrugged.

"Alright folks, it's time! Remember, as this is only the qualifying round of the tournament, you may only use two Pokémon! Now, battle... begin!" the Professor cried out.

"Fennekin, use a combo move with Attract and then Round!" Serena cried out.

"Fenne...KIN!" Fennekin replied before winking at Empoleon and sending a heart-shaped object flying towards the opponent. Being a Pokémon of the opposite gender, Empoleon was greatly affected by Attract and then hit hard when Fennekin used Round.

Barry snarled, "Empoleon! SNAP OUT OF IT AND USE HYDRO PUMP!"

Empoleon, feeling dizzy from the Attract, tried to use Hydro Pump, and succeeded due to a high attack and defence level. Fortunately however, it missed by a long shot and hit a tree nearby. The only problem was that Fennekin still dodged by accident, and leapt nearby that tree. When it collapsed, it caught Fennekin by her hind leg.

"KIN!" she screamed in pain. Serena shuddered and carefully thought over her next move. Just then, Empoleon shook off the effects of Attract.

"NOW EMPOLEON! USE AQUAJET!" Barry roared, grinning victoriously. Empoleon was engulfed by a pool of water and flew straight towards Fennekin.

Everyone gasped.

"Oh no! Water moves are super effective against fire types! Could this be the end of Fennekin already?" Ash muttered.

"It's not over yet, Fennekin! Use a full-power flamethrower on the ground beneath you!" Serena shouted, determination shining in her eyes.

"Very strategic..." Ash gaped in shock as Fennekin cried out again.

It seemed Fennekin's trust in her trainer was very strong because she put all of her will and power into that flamethrower. As she did, the ground around her exploded and flew into the air. Empoleon retreated immediately to avoid being hit by the flying rocks and stopped his aquajet.

"Now Empoleon! Use Ice Beam!" Barry shouted without an ounce of thought.

"Bad choice..." Serena chuckled. As the pieces of rock came flying down they were instantly frozen by a very powerful Ice beam just before making contact with the ground, freezing on impact and making a thick ice-shield around Fennekin. While Fennekin still struggled to get away from the tree, the grip had been loosened after the flamethrower.

"No!" Barry exclaimed, "Alright Empoleon, it looks like we're going to have to go for our speciality! Use Drill Peck!"

Empoleon obviously obeyed his master and flew towards the ice shield. When making contact, Empoleon immediately got to work and began drilling through the ice. The battle was going to be tougher than anticipated.

"Good work, Empoleon! I knew we couldn't lose! Not in the qualifying round!"

Just then, Fennekin escaped the tree's grip.

"Awesome! Well done Fennekin! Now use your most powerful Fire Blast!" Serena smiled. Fennekin charged up its fire blast and got ready to release.

"Not yet, Fennekin, wait for it..." Serena added.

"Hey, what's she doing! Fire-type moves are ineffective against Water types! Even a powerful move like that won't be that powerful! It's not enough! Certainly not for a critical hit at least! Surely not! Could it?" Ash exclaimed. He inhaled worriedly and watched as Empoleon reached the final layer of ice.

"Ready for it Fennekin?" Serena shouted. Then Empoleon broke through the ice, "OKAY, NOW!" she screamed. Fennekin released its most powerful fireblast, causing the ice shield to explode around the two opponents and sent Empoleon flying. Surprisingly enough, Fennekin was at a high-enough level to do some serious damage. Additionally, little shards of ice flew into the air, and then flew straight down towards Empoleon. Fennekin jumped out of the way, but before Empoleon could dodge, he was enveloped in a swarm of ice rocks.

"EMPOLE...ON!" Empoleon bellowed before collapsing in pain. The ice rocks exploded around him and all anyone could see at that point was smoke. When it finally cleared, everyone could see easily that Empoleon had fainted!

"Empoleon is unable to battle! Which means Fennekin wins!" the Professor exclaimed. Ash cheered for Serena, congratulating her on her first win, and causing her to blush. Everyone else just clapped.

"Empoleon! Return!" Barry said, holding out Empoleon's Pokéball. In a flash of red light, Empoleon disappeared, and Barry added, "A job well done out there, Empoleon, you were amazing."

"Fennekin, you seem a bit shaken, are you okay?" asked Serena sympathetically. Fennekin nodded her head and smiled.

"Alright, it's time for the big finish now. Hitmonlee! Let's get going!" Barry roared, releasing his fighting type Pokémon, Hitmonlee onto the battlefield.

"Wow, a Hitmonlee! Cool! This is sure gonna be a great battle! The winner is anyone's guess now!" Ash grinned, but then he noticed a strange, scared look on Serena's face, "Huh? What could be wrong with her?"

Fennekin also looked at her trainer worriedly, what could be wrong with her?


	2. Qualifying Round

"Hey, Serena! What's wrong?!" called out Ash. Serena turned to Ash nervously.

"I-It's a fighting type!" she replied.

"So?" he said.

"I have a grudge against fighting types... well, apart from my Pancham..." she added, "Okay, Fennekin, it's time, use your fastest tackle and then use flamethrower!"

Fennekin, ready for battle, zoomed across the battlefield over to Hitmonlee, but before they could even make contact, Fennekin twisted her hind leg and fell, crying in pain. Serena gasped, but Fennekin just shook it off. Skipping the tackle, Fennekin charged up her flamethrower and shot it straight towards Hitmonlee, who simply looked at Barry confusedly.

"No, not yet Hitmonlee. Just be patient..." Barry shouted, then took a deep breath in and shut his eyes. Little flames started spurting out of the flamethrower as it closed in, indicating overwhelming power. He seemed to be listening to the flamethrower. He waited until the perfect moment and then seized the opportunity at the last possible second.

"NOW HITMONLEE! BLAZE KICK!" he screamed enthusiastically, while Hitmonlee's foot was lit in a burning blaze, and he deliberately crashed it into the path of the flamethrower, blocking the fire from it's destination.

"Huh! He's fighting fire... with fire!" Ash gasped. Finally, Fennekin stopped spitting fire, exhausted, and the flamethrower exploded on Hitmonlee perfectly, completely defeating Barry's plan and knocking Hitmonlee into the air.

"Grrr... if she keeps up like that I'm gonna have to fine her! HITMONLEE! USE HIGH JUMP KICK NOW!" Barry roared. Sure enough, Hitmonlee opened his eyes as if he were unscathed and extended his leg to the ground, allowing a flawless landing. When he came down he was right in front of Fennekin.

"DODGE IT FENNEKIN!" cried Serena. But before Fennekin could even move, Hitmonlee knee'd her in the face and made her crash into a pile of boulders nearby, screaming in agony. This created a strangely large amount of smoke and dust as the boulders crashed down. When it cleared, once again everyone could clearly see that Fennekin had fainted.

"Fennekin is unable to battle, so Hitmonlee wins!" the Professor exclaimed.

"Fennekin, return!" Serena shouted, holding out Fennekin's Pokéball. In a flash of red light, Fennekin vanished into thin air.

"See, by the time Empoleon had been defeated, I had already figured out your strategy, and to be fair, it was one that would have taken a very long time to consider how to counter - However thanks to that broken tree over there, which collapsed on your Fennekin, it hurt her hind legs, making her that split-second too slow, and allowing my Hitmonlee to defeat her with flying colours. So, what's your next Pokémon going to be?" Barry grinned. Serena snarled at him, angry that Fennekin could have been defeated so quickly.

"Barry thinks he has the upper hand, even though Serena has one Pokémon that hasn't taken damage yet, Hitmonlee is still a little bit shaken from that fiery collision. Could Barry still beat her?" Ash gritted through his teeth.

"Alright, Sylveon, take the stage!" Serena called out, releasing a fairy-type Pokémon.

"Sylvi!" Sylveon exclaimed, ready for battle.

"Ah, so now you're going for the type advantages. Funny, I thought that was only my strategy. Oh well; Hitmonlee! USE CLOSE-COMBAT OVER AND OVER AGAIN!" Barry bellowed. His Pokémon obeyed and dashed towards Sylveon. Serena wasn't prepared for that, she was prepared for worse.

"USE QUICK ATTACK!" Serena yelled. Sylveon dashed towards Hitmonlee and the two collided in a white ray of light. While Hitmonlee desperately tried to attack Sylveon in her blind spot, Sylveon just dodged gracefully. Eventually, she managed to barge into his back and knock him over.

"HITMON!" Hitmonlee yelped as he fell over. Normally a trainer would gasp in shock at this point, but Barry just grinned.

"Well, if you're not going to counter... SYLVEON! USE SHADOW BALL!" Serena squealed. As the Shadow Ball charged up however, Barry took action once more.

"HITMONLEE, USE FOCUS PUNCH!" he shouted. Quite rapidly, one of Hitmonlee's arms turned a turquoise colour and he hit Sylveon once again, this time colliding with the Shadow Ball and causing it to explode, this chain reaction knocked Sylveon over into a little hole in the ground, gritting her teeth in pain.

"Well, it looks like it's now or never. USE PROTECT!" Serena shouted.

"Feint," Barry chortled to himself. Hitmonlee heard this and smashed the protective ball surrounding Sylveon.

"SYLVEON!" Sylveon gasped.

"NOW, FOR THE FINISHING TOUCH, USE BRICK BREAK!" Barry growled. Hitmonlee's other hand now turned a glowing white, and he raised it, ready to hit his opponent at any moment. Just as the hand came crashing down, Serena announced her next command.

"DODGE IT!" yelled Serena, and Sylveon jumped out of the way, "NOW USE DIG!" Sylveon quickly dug into the ground and disappeared out of nowhere.

"Huh? Wow! Sylveon must have learnt these moves from a LOT of TM's!" Barry exclaimed. Hitmonlee's hand was now stuck in the ground from the Brick Break, and Sylveon was right beneath him.

"Now, here it comes! USE GIGA IMPACT AND AIM STRAIGHT UPWARDS!" Serena commanded.

"Wait, what?!" Barry cried, and the ground beneath Hitmonlee lit up, "NO!"

"And... GO!" Serena screamed. Sylveon let out a mighty battle cry and blasted through the ground with a massive Giga Impact of epic power. The 'impact' (no joke intended) sent Hitmonlee flying into the air, and just as they flew past the top of the school building, the Giga Impact exploded, causing Hitmonlee to fall to the battlefield below and crash into the ground. While Sylveon landed safely on all of her feet, Hitmonlee obviously wasn't so lucky. Once again, smoke smothered the battlefield and took a lot longer to clear this time. Strong winds from the explosion also blew powerfully against every person in the area, and causing Ash's hat to fall off. Pikachu caught it and happily put it back on his head. Finally, the smoke cleared.

"Lee..." Hitmonlee groaned as he appeared to be unconscious.

"NO! HITMONLEE!" Barry wailed. Serena simply grinned.

"Hitmonlee is unable to battle, so Sylveon wins! Which means the victory goes to Serena!" the Professor exclaimed.

"ALRIGHT!" she squealed, jumping high into the air while everyone applauded her. Sylveon looked almost as excited.

"Hitmonlee, return!" Barry called out, revealing Hitmonlee's Pokéball and allowing him to re-enter it, "You were awesome today, take a good rest, okay?" He then got up and smiled at Serena, walking over and holding out a hand to be shaken. His other hand was occupied trying to fit the Pokéball into his pocket. Serena was busy hugging her Sylveon to notice, but when she did, she didn't even respond. She just smiled and shook his hand. Barry then walked off and Serena strolled over to Ash, beaming.

"Serena... that was... incredible!" Ash exclaimed.

"Pika, Pikachu!" Pikachu added joyfully.

Serena blushed and laughed, "Thanks you two!" Just then, the professor interrupted them both again.

"Alright, for the next battle, we have... Ash versus Paul!" the Professor grinned. Ash grinned as well and strolled over to the battlefield. On the other side was his biggest rival of all time. This was also the first time they'd had a major battle since the Sinnoh League, how would it go? Had Paul really gotten stronger as he claimed? Who would triumph and prevail over the other? Questions swam through Ash's head while Paul revealed his first Pokémon.

"Rhydon! Standby for battle!" Paul announced, throwing a Pokéball and releasing a powerful Rhydon.

"Right, he's using a Rhydon, so we'll go with the type advantage and so... Torterra! I CHOOSE YOU!" Ash yelled, also throwing a Pokéball, eager to battle. As soon as its contents were released, Torterra let out a very intimidating roar, seemingly challenging Rhydon to a head-to-head battle.

"And... battle begin!" the Professor cried.

"ALRIGHT, USE HYPER BEAM!" The two rivals roared in unison. Obediently, the two Pokémon both fired a devastatingly intense Hyper Beam, colliding in the centre and causing a fiery explosion. This fiery explosion actually damaged Torterra more, being weak towards fire attacks, Rhydon on the other hand remained nearly unscathed.

"Use Megahorn!"

"Use Leaf Storm!"

Rhydon charged towards Torterra, his horn glowing viciously. Torterra although snarled confidently and forced out a near-fatal leaf storm. It swiftly forced Rhydon all the way back and almost smashed into Paul. This time, Rhydon DID take damage.

"DOUBLE TEAM AND THEN FLAMETHROWER!" Paul shrieked.

"Huh?! How!?" Ash exclaimed.

"He knows flamethrower too!" Serena whispered to herself, recalling Fennekin's battle against Empoleon. Sure enough, Rhydon successfully created several identical clones of himself, and they all used flamethrower on Torterra. While Torterra simply waited for another command bravely.

"USE RAZOR LEAF ON EACH FLAMETHROWER AND THEN USE GIGA DRAIN!" Ash roared. Torterra easily fired a single razor leaf at each flamethrower, somehow their powerful speed managed to stop the flamethrowers from overpowering them as normal. While the flamethrowers were occupied, Torterra activated an intense giga drain, causing each and every Rhydon to cry out in pain. All of the energy drawn from the clones as well filling up Torterra with will, power, energy and determination. At last, he reached his maximum power and declared that he was ready for anything.

"ALRIGHT! Now, use your full-powered Solar Beam and finish it off!" Ash screamed. Torterra's tree on his shell glowed brightly, and then the rest of him did so.

And at last, a maximum-power Solar Beam was blasted out of Torterra's tree and it flew towards the centre of the battlefield, the only place in which every Rhydon, including the real one, could be eliminated completely. The power of the Solar Beam was so extreme in fact, that it temporarily obscured the vision of everyone. All they could smell was dust and rocks, all they could feel was heat, and all they could hear was a mighty battle cry and a scream of agony, but who was who?

At last the dust cleared (again), and everyone witnessed the result of a great, but surprisingly short battle. Torterra had flawlessly K.O'd Rhydon, who was lying unconscious in a massive hole in the ground. One by one his clones faded from existence.

"Rhydon is unable to battle, which means Torterra wins!" the Professor announced.

"Rhydon, return!" Paul shouted, holding out a Pokéball; and just like that, Rhydon was gone. He took out his second Pokéball.

"Torterra, use Leaf Storm, quickly, before his next Pokémon can attack!" Ash shouted. Paul grinned and threw his Pokéball straight up into the air. Torterra also smiled and fired a leaf storm, however, it didn't miss, it failed - for just as it was about to make contact, a powerful thunderbolt struck every individual leaf until they were all burnt to ash (no joke intended). Ash looked at his Pikachu in surprise, wondering why his own Pokémon would do that, but Pikachu wasn't moving, in fact, he looked just as confused as Ash was. Unfortunately, their questions were all answered when Paul's second and last Pokémon revealed itself.

A Pikachu!

"Huh! You have a Pikachu too?!" Ash exclaimed.

"That's right Ash, it turns out that you're not the only person in the world with a powerful Pikachu. It's not that rare you know!" Paul laughed evilly, "NOW! Pikachu, USE QUICK ATTACK!"

While Ash and his Pikachu gaped in shock and horror, Paul's Pikachu growled and dashed towards Torterra.

"TORTERRA NO!" Ash called out, but it was too late. Torterra had been flung into the air by Pikachu's insanely fast quick attack.

"Good work, now, wait until the last possible moment and then use iron tail beneath Torterra!" Paul commanded. His Pikachu quickly hopped to the place where Torterra was supposedly about to land, but never did; this is because instead of crashing into a rocky battlefield, an Iron Tail, hard as steel, deliberately smashed into him. Torterra cried in agony before collapsing unconscious. Ash and Serena gasped after witnessing this rapid, swift defeat of an incredibly powerful Pokémon.

"Torterra is unable to-" the Professor began, but was interrupted by Paul.

"Oh will you shut up already?! Honestly, all I want to do right now is defeat my biggest rival when I have to put up with your awful commentary sidetrack!" Paul snapped.

"Ooooh..." most of the rest of the class grinned. The Professor simply glared at Paul for a moment but then he rolled his eyes and shook it off.

"Torterra, return! Thanks, you were great today, you deserve a good rest," Ash smiled, allowing Torterra to return to his Pokéball, "Alright Pikachu, I was waiting for a day like this to come, it's time for a Pikachu face-off! I choose you!"

"Pika! Chupi!" Pikachu exclaimed, running enthusiastically onto the battlefield. Paul looked quite exasperated, but at the same time, both opponents felt the same way about this battle. A Pikachu Showdown did sound quite awesome.

"Alright, now use Iron Tail!" Ash and Paul shouted in unison. The two Pikachus ran at each other and mercilessly smashed each other's tails together, like two hands conjoined in an arm-wrestle. They struggled persistently until their tail's slid away from each other, burning them with friction. The two Pikachus returned to the ground and awaited their next command.

"USE ELECTRO BALL!" Ash and Paul exclaimed simultaneously, again, "HEY! STOP COPYING ME!" Then Ash got an idea. If Paul was going to use the exact same moves, maybe he could take advantage and use an unexpected move at the last moment! The two electro balls smashed against each other and left behind an intense explosion, knocking both Pikachus backwards.

"Time for a change of strategy..." Paul whispered, "PIKACHU! USE VOLT TACKLE!"

"USE THUNDERBOLT!" Ash yelled. While Paul's Pikachu was engulfed in a glowing, yellow and black light as he ran towards his opponent, Ash's Pikachu charged up a powerful move and struck the other Pikachu harshly, head-on. Unfortunately, the results did not tip in Ash's favour. He was forced to gasp as his Pikachu was sent spinning into the air. It seemed as if the Thunderbolt had charged up the Volt Tackle. Strangely however, Ash didn't react after that as Paul expected, he just laughed.

"Something funny, Ash?" Paul growled.

"It's just that you've become so predictable," Ash smirked. He turned his cap around, "ALRIGHT PIKACHU, GET READY!"

"Pikachu! Use Volt Tackle in the Air and also use Electro Ball!" Paul yelled.

"We'll also use a combo move, okay Pikachu? USE IRON TAIL AND THUNDERBOLT!" Ash screamed confidently.

"What exactly is going on?" Serena asked.

"It's a famously well-known fact that when Ash turns his cap around, he means business," another girl answered, gaping in awe. As Paul's Pikachu charged up an Electro Ball, then boosted it up with the insane energy of Volt Tackle, Ash's Pikachu used Iron Tail. His tail turned into... well... iron, and the thunderbolt simply charged it up by a great amount. At last, the iron tail started glowing yellow, signifying a serious enhancement of power. Paul noticed this and gritted his teeth.

"NOW!" The two rivals roared in unison. Paul's Pikachu continued flying through the air, his Super Electro Ball still connected to his tail. Ash's Pikachu also flew down towards its opponent, and the two collided in a serious clash of energy. Electricity spurted out from a massive cloud of smoke and landed on the battle field, while the two Pikachus remained inside. Ash and Paul waited patiently, hoping for the best. At last, both Pikachus fell out of the sky and landed on the ground, weak. It appeared that Paul's Pikachu had sustained the most damage so far.

"Alright, Pikachu, this is the last straw! Use double team and form a ring around the other Pikachu, then spin around and use Volt Tackle one more time!" Paul shouted, his Pikachu struggling to stand. Eventually it did, while Ash's Pikachu remained unable to move.

"Hah! It seems your Pikachu is paralyzed from my Pikachu's hidden ability, Static. Handy ability, isn't it?" Paul chuckled. Ash hung his head, awaiting defeat. At last, all of the other Pikachus plucked up enough energy and created a ring of electricity with spinning Volt Tackles, the very next thing they did was close in on the enemy, Ash's Pikachu.

"PIKACHU! NO!" Serena cried out. Suddenly, Ash lifted his head again, this time, he was smiling.

"PIKACHU! JUMP INTO THE AIR AND THEN USE IRON TAIL ON THE GROUND!" he roared.

"What?!" Paul exclaimed, his eyes widening.

"How?!" Serena murmured, her eyes also widening.

"Eh?!" The Professor said, his eyes widening too.

"NOW!" Ash screamed. Finally, his Pikachu opened his eyes, leapt into the air, and then came crashing down, his now Iron-covered Tail first. As expected, this powerful move sent jolts of power through the ground, and blasted it upwards, instantly stopping the Volt Tackle.

"No... but how?!" Paul bellowed.

"You see Paul, I don't think you realise, but when two or more Pokémon can activate the same ability, and either one does so, the ability is cancelled out! If two Pokémon can do the same thing, it just weakens the energy of the hidden move! That paralysis Pikachu was demonstrating on the ground, was just a bluff!" Ash smirked, while Paul snarled.

"Whatever," he shrugged. When the dust and rocks cleared, only two Pikachus remained, Ash's Pikachu, and Paul's original Pikachu. They were both standing exactly were they started, and were completely exhausted.

"PIKACHU! USE EVERY LAST MORSEL OF ENERGY YOU HAVE IN A FULL POWER THUNDERBOLT!" Paul screamed.

"YOU TOO PIKACHU!" Ash added. The two Pikachus muscled up their remaining energy and fired two of the most powerful thunderbolts that the other students had ever seen. For a while after that, the two Pikachus remained stuck, their thunderbolts still growing strong. Both Ash and Paul knew that if either Pikachu slipped up a little, the ball of electricity being rapidly formed in the centre would close in on them and render them unable to battle. However, Ash had an idea, if Pikachu could escape in a way that made his opponent the only Pokémon within range of attack, then his energy would not be fully drained! So...

"NOW PIKACHU, IT'S TIME! USE DIG AND GO AS FAR STRAIGHT DOWN AS YOU CAN!" Ash cried. In an emergent state, Pikachu quickly let go of the thunderbolt and scrambled underground, going as far as he could possibly go. Fortunately, this meant that the Thunderbolt could only strike Paul's Pikachu, as it was within range. Then when it did, it hit Paul's Pikachu with such power, that it was nearly impossible to withstand, nonetheless, he did so, much to Ash's amazement and dismay.

"No..." he muttered as everything went quite. The only other sound anyone could hear was Paul's Pikachu panting heavily. Even the other students were holding their breaths.

"Come on Pikachu, I believe in you, you can handle one more attack... NOW USE QUICK ATTACK AND GO UNDERGROUND TOWARDS ASH'S PIKACHU!" Paul shouted, sounding more desperate than ever. Feeling great agony as he did so, Pikachu was enveloped in a blinding white light as he dashed underground, towards the other Pikachu.

"Pika... Pika... Pika! PIKA! PIKA! PIKA! PIKACHU! Pika, PI-CHU!" he yelled down the tunnel, until he finally clashed with Pikachu. Although, it wasn't all bad news, as it looked as if the battle wasn't just over yet. Ash ran over to the hole and stared down.

"YES!" he shrieked. Sure enough, his Pikachu was still staying strong, and was countering the Quick Attack with a powerful Iron Tail. Then he saw something much worse and backed away. As soon as he didn't smoke and fire sprung out of the hole, and so did two exhausted Pikachus. The two landed together on the ground, unconscious. The battle was over. Paul, Ash, Serena and the rest of the audience gasped in horror.

"Both Pikachus are unable to battle! Which makes this battle... a draw?" the Professor raised his eyebrows. Ash and Paul ran over to their unconscious Pikachus and picked them up.

"Nice job, Pikachu, keep up the hard work," Paul praised his Pokémon.

"You were amazing here Pikachu, you deserve a long rest," Ash smiled.

"Pika Pi..." Ash's Pikachu replied faintly.

"So what happens now?" Serena asked.

"I'm not really sure, I believe that we notify the tournament hosts and tell them that one extra competitor will be joining the match, I'm not really sure how though," the Professor answered.

"Professor!" someone squealed and pointed at Ash's Pikachu. While Paul's Pikachu was in its Pokéball, safe and asleep, there was something wrong with Ash's Pikachu.

"Huh?!" The Professor and Serena exclaimed in unison. Ash was carrying Pikachu over to them, a terrified, exhausted expression glued to his face.

"I-It's... Pika-" Ash stammered, but the Professor stopped him.

"Something's very wrong..." he interrupted, leading the Ash to the Pokémon Centre next to the school in a rush while Serena followed.

* * *

"Nurse Joy, is my Pikachu okay?" asked a worried Ash.

"Ash, I'm sorry to say that your Pikachu suffered a serious injury underground during a previous battle and attracted an infection, this caused him to collapse and has made him very poorly. Unfortunately we're going to have to keep him inside this centre for a few months just to help him fully recover. Until then we can be sure just how well your Pikachu is and is going to be," Nurse Joy explained softly. Ash's eyes widened and his jaw dropped.

"A FEW MONTHS!?" he bellowed, and then calmed down straight away, walking out of the centre emotionlessly. Serena panicked and decided to follow him, leaving the Professor by himself to discuss a few 'matters' with Nurse Joy.

Outside of the centre, Ash was walking back to School, he had missed his second lesson and was on his way to his third. In the corridor coming up to his destination, Serena finally caught up.

"Ash, are you okay?" she asked anxiously.

"Fine. I'm just going to Maths," Ash rolled his eyes and clenched his fists.

"You were amazing out there on the battlefield," Serena smiled, putting her hand on his shoulder. He shrugged her off.

"Thanks, so were you," he replied, causing her to blush, but what happened next made her very angry.

"I have to go, please leave me alone," Ash added, picking up his walking pace.

Serena's face turned a furious red as she roared a piercing roar, "ASHTON KETCHUM DON'T YOU DARE TURN YOUR BACK ON ME! I MAY NOT HAVE KNOWN YOU PERSONALLY FOR THAT LONG BUT I DO KNOW THAT I ABSOLUTELY DESPISE BEING IGNORED!" Ash turned around, surprised by this sudden outburst. Serena walked straight up to him and tried to calm down.

"I get that you and your Pikachu are very close, and that you can't bare to go even a week without him, but that doesn't mean you should shut out your friends! In fact, this would be the perfect time to express how you're feeling!" she growled, still angry. Ash felt his eyes watering up and his cheeks going red, and didn't want to look bad, so he did the best thing possible.

"Alright, fine, Serena, there's something I've wanted to tell you for several years now, and I feel as if now could be the greatest time to say it," Ash randomly confessed.

"Well, what is it?" asked Serena, who had now fully calmed down.

"All those years back, at Prof. Oak's Summer Camp, I fell in love, and that love has still been burning bright over my heart even now," Ash continued, a slight grin creeping its way onto his face.

"Wh-Who with?" Serena encouraged, her eyes wide. Ash didn't reply. She waited for longer, eventually it felt like they had been standing there forever, in silence. The only thing changing in that time was the emotion on Ash's face, which gradually converted from depressed to overjoyed.

Then he kissed her.


End file.
